Alex Shaffer

Alex Shaffer was an Alpine skier who competed at the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, finishing ninth in combined at Nagano in 1998. Shaffer won the US titles in slalom and giant slalom in 1999. She learned to ski at the Rowmark Ski Academy in Salt Lake City.

Shaffer graduated from the University of Utah with a nursing degree. After marrying she was Alex Wubbels, and worked as a nurse in the emergency department (ED) of the University of Utah Hospital. In July 2017 she achieved some unwanted fame when she was arrested in the ED after a police officer told her to draw blood from an unconscious patient, which she refused. Wubbels was completely correct in her refusal, as police were only allowed to request this if the patient was under arrest, or had given consent, or if the police were in possession of a warrant, none of which was true in this case.

This did not sit well with the requesting officer who placed Wubbels in handcuffs and into the cabin of his police cruiser. The arresting officer was later fired, his supervisor was demoted, and Wubbels was completely exonerated and settled a lawsuit related to the incident.